The present invention is directed generally to decontamination and preservation of the environment, and more particularly to the detoxification of cyanide containing polymeric film chip materials.
A large volume of X-ray film is utilized each year by the medical profession. The silver halides contained within the developed X-ray film are most usually disposed upon a polyester or other polymeric film backing, and are recoverable by use of known processes. One such process is the cyanide process, which results in the contamination of the polymeric film chip material with cyanide compounds. Cyanide compounds are extremely toxic and extremely dangerous to members of the public. That is especially true when, for reasons of greed and/or malevolence, the cyanide contaminated film chip materials are discarded along highways, at unsafe de facto dump sites, and at other places by operators who have removed the silver halides, and do not wish to be burdened with the expense of disposing of the cyanide containing polymeric film chips. Accordingly, a problem of sizeable proportions involving the public health has been generated.
It is one purpose of the method and apparatus of the present invention to provide an efficient, relatively low cost, and safe solution to the above contamination problem. The method and apparatus of the present invention, and the means of solving the above problem will become more readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following Summary of the Invention, Brief Description of the Drawing, Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments, accompanying Drawing, and appended Claims.